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SALT LAKE CITY — Federal prosecutors want a man who killed a Millard County sheriff's deputy seven years ago to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
A U.S. District Court jury convicted Roberto Miramontes Roman in February of shooting Josie Greathouse Fox to death after a traffic stop in 2010. Jurors also found him guilty of discharging a firearm in connection with a violent crime, three counts of possessing a firearm in the commission of a drug trafficking crime, and three counts of distributing methamphetamine.
Prosecutors argued for a life sentence for the murder plus 80 years for the other crimes, according to court documents filed Thursday. Judge David Nuffer is scheduled to sentence Roman next week.
"The murder of a law enforcement officer is even more egregious when it is premeditated, as it was here. Roman made a conscious decision long before the traffic stop that he would do anything it took to avoid going to jail, including killing any police officer he encountered," prosecutors wrote.
Roman claimed that Ryan Greathouse, Fox's brother, was the man who shot and killed the deputy. Roman said he had sold drugs to Greathouse a short time before and that he was in the car with Greathouse at the time of the shooting.
Shortly before the shooting, Fox and another deputy were watching two vehicles — Greathouse's truck and Roman's Cadillac — on reports of possible drug activity. The deputies watched the Cadillac pull up near the truck. Fox followed the Cadillac and the other deputy followed the truck as it drove away.
Roman fired two shots with an AK-47 through the window of his vehicle, killing Fox near Delta. The other deputy later returned to find Fox lying dead in the road.
Related:
4 ½ years after acquittal, new jury finds man guilty of killing Utah deputy
More than four years after one jury acquitted him of murdering Josie Greathouse Fox, a federal jury on Tuesday found Roberto Miramontes Roman guilty of shooting and killing the Millard County sheriff's deputy following a 2010 vehicle stop."Roman’s callous disregard for the suffering of deputy Fox and her family also bear on the appropriateness of a life sentence. After gunning her down in cold blood, Roman left deputy Fox alone and bleeding to death on a deserted highway on a freezing winter night," prosecutors wrote.
Greathouse died of an accidental drug overdose 4 ½ months after his sister was killed.
Roman's conviction in federal court came 4 ½ years after he was acquitted in state court of aggravated murder but convicted of tampering with evidence and possession of a dangerous weapon in connection with Fox's death.
